Clifton is a town in and is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Greenlee County Greenlee County is a County (United States), county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 9,563, making it Arizona's least populous county. The county seat i ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States, along the San Francisco River. The population of the town was 3,311 at the 2010 census, with a 2018 population estimate of 3,700. It was a place of the

Arizona copper mine strike of 1983 The 1983 Arizona copper mine strike began as a bargaining dispute between the Phelps Dodge Corporation and a group of union copper miners and mill workers, led by the United Steelworkers. The subsequent strike lasted nearly three years and resul ...

. Clifton and Morenci are thought to be an economic area by the Arizona Department of Commerce.Clifton–Morenci Community Profile
at Arizona Department of Commerce

Geography and climate

Clifton is located at (33.0508966, -109.2961826). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.46%, is water. Clifton has a hot

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''BSh'') that closely borders on both the hot

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

and the cool semi-arid climate. There is a large degree of

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak d ...

. Summers are very hot and sometimes humid, with most rainfall coming from the monsoon between July and October. The wettest year was 2004 with including in August, whilst the driest year with a full record was 1924 with only including a mere between July and October. Winters are mild (though with very cold nights) and dry, with snow only recorded in fourteen years since 1892.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 2,596 people, 919 households, and 685 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,087 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 67.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 1.0

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 2.3% Native American, <0.1%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 26.7% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.9% from two or more races. 55.9% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 919 households, out of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.27. In the town, the population was spread out, with 32.3% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $39,786, and the median income for a family was $41,820. Males had a median income of $39,813 versus $19,485 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $15,313. About 8.1% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 12.4% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The town of Clifton operates under a council-manager form of government with seven elected council members, including a mayor and vice-mayor, and a town manager appointed by the council. Each council member is elected to a four-year term. As of 2015, the Mayor was Felix Callicotte and the Town Manager was Ian McGaughey.

Transportation

Clifton is served by

U.S. Route 191 U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a spur of U.S. Route 91 that has two branches. The southern branch runs for from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part of Yellowstone National Park. The northern branch runs for from the north ...

Greenlee County Airport Greenlee County Airport is in Greenlee County, southeast of Clifton and Morenci, Arizona. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility.Arizona Eastern Railway The Arizona Eastern Railway is a Class III railroad that operates of railroad between Clifton, Arizona, and Miami, Arizona, in the United States. This includes trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad between Lordsburg, New Mexico, and ...

Education

Since the closure of Clifton Unified School District in 2010, it is now in the Morenci Unified School District.

Gallery

File:Hoveys_Dance_Hall_in_Clifton_Arizona_1884.jpg, Hovey's Dance Hall in Clifton in 1884 File:Clifton in 1903.jpg, Clifton in 1903 File:Clifton Cliff Jail Clifton Arizona Circa 1900.jpg, The Clifton Cliff Jail, sometime before it closed in 1906 File:Clifton Hotsprings.jpg, Clifton Mineral Hot Springs Bathhouse, which was built in 1928 File:Clifton Townsite Historic District.jpg,

Clifton Townsite Historic District The Clifton Townsite Historic District, in Clifton, Arizona, is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is historically significant as "a largely intact area within Clifton, a copper mining t ...

in 1993

References

External links

* *
Clifton
at Western Mining History, includes photo gallery {{Authority control County seats in Arizona Mining communities in Arizona Towns in Greenlee County, Arizona Safford, Arizona micropolitan area